


Thy Death Will Be Thy Birth

by sunlilies



Category: House of Night - P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast
Genre: Canon Relationships, Canon Rewrite, F/F, F/M, Fix-It, M/M, Multi, Warnings May Change, mostly canon but certain plot elements and character development are getting a major overhaul
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-04
Updated: 2020-06-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:20:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24540709
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunlilies/pseuds/sunlilies
Summary: In a world where vampyres co-exist uneasily with human society, Zoey Redbird finds herself marked as a part of the newest generation of fledgling vampyres. Forced to abandon the only life she knew, she must now find where she belongs at the House of Night, a mysterious boarding school where young fledglings like her are guided through the strange and sometimes terrifying physical and mental changes that come with becoming an adult vampyre. However... Zoey finds that she isn't like the other fledglings. In fact, she may be unlike any vampyre in history.Dark forces are at work, blurring the lines between good and evil, and Zoey knows that to turn the tide, she will need to rely on her friends and her newfound powers--even if at times they feel like a curse.Welcome to Thy Death Will Be Thy Birth: A House of Night Rewrite. Currently on: Marked.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 9





	1. Marked: Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> welcome... to yet another attempt at rewritting the house of night series-
> 
> back when i was a teen in middle/high school, i read these books and thought they were the bee's knees. when i managed to find them online and reread them again for the first time in years... i frequently felt like pulling my hair out.
> 
> yet, there is something about the premise of this series, some quality, that made me read through the whole series another time afterwards. and now, with the otherworld series happening (which i have also been keeping track of), i couldn't hold myself back any longer.
> 
> for this rewrite, i have a few goals in mind:  
> 1\. make the characters feel like actual people  
> 2\. make the attempts to be politically correct... actually be politically correct  
> 3\. fix the weird plot holes and plot progression and unnecessary bits
> 
> hopefully i succeed, and hopefully i stick to some vague idea of an update schedule for this lmao

“ _Hellooooooooooo_ … Earth to Zoey?”

I had never thought myself to be the type of kid to fall asleep in class. Sure, maybe I was the kind of person who would find myself staring listlessly out the window, or to doodle silly pictures of cats and whatever else came to mind instead of trying to find the answer to the geometry problem written on the board... but not sleeping. Could there _be_ a worse way to stand out from the crowd? What a way to incite ire from the teachers and gossip from everyone else.

And yet, I found myself jerking back up in my seat as a less than gentle hand shook at my shoulder, accompanied by a familiar, way too perky voice. “Kayla?” I yawned in response, rubbing at my eyes.

Kayla, looking down at me, grimaced. “Oh, ew, Zoey. You still drool in your sleep? That’s gross.”

A hot flash of embarrassment burned through me at her disgusted tone, and I pulled myself away indignantly. It was hard to hold onto the feeling for long, though--the headache I had been having since this morning only seemed to have gotten worse during my unplanned nap, making me feel feverish and lethargic. I groaned, rubbing at my temples. “Not like I can control what I do in my sleep, Kayla.” I muttered drily, only to cough for what felt like the umpteenth time that day.

The shuffling of footsteps, papers, and backpacks told me that class had ended probably only a handful of minutes ago. As I glanced up from my desk, I caught a few side-eyes from my classmates just as they turned away. _Great_ , I thought to myself, _now I’ve just given them more to talk about, on top of that fight me and Heath had after school yesterday…_

“Zoey Montgomery.” As the teacher said my name, my gaze snapped up to meet Mrs. Henderson’s, my elderly American history teacher, who was now standing in front of my desk. “I’m putting you down for detention tomorrow after class. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you why.”

The annoyed expression on her face made my jaw clench, but I nodded. “I know. I’m sorry.” Another hoarse cough shook me.

But Mrs. Henderson showed no signs of concern, only giving me a jerky nod and strutting back to her desk up front. Kayla, who had already grabbed her backpack and purse at this point, stood by the door impatiently, already tapping on her phone’s screen. “Come _on_ , Zoey, Jared is waiting to drive me home!”

“I’m coming, I’m coming! Geez…” I sighed, brushing the dark strands of hair that had fallen out of my ponytail back behind my ear as I hastily grabbed my things.

_Could this week get any worse?_

* * *

“...seriously though, Zoey, Heath didn’t get _that_ drunk after the game! Honest!”

As Kayla continued to chatter nonstop about the football game from a couple days ago, I drifted out of the conversation again, taking a hard look at myself in the small mirror I had inside of my locker. Despite my olive skin tone, my face looked paler than I had ever seen it before, and dark bags drooped underneath my hazel eyes. Was I coming down with the flu or something?

“Zoey! Are you even listening to me?” Kayla huffed.

“Yeah, sure. Whatever.” I shut my locker with a sigh, feeling exasperation well up within me like trapped steam when I realized exactly what Kayla was saying. “You aren’t the one who he called at three in the morning after already staying up way too late to study only to nearly get your eardrums blasted out by how loud they had the music playing at that stupid party.”

Kayla rolled her eyes. “God, you’re so grumpy when you’re sick. Point is, I don’t think you should have started screaming at him yesterday about it. I wouldn’t treat my boyfriend that way!”

“One, I didn’t scream. Two, we haven’t been together since the end of last summer. Three, I’m actually worried sick about him and his alcohol problems, which he just proved to me aren’t getting any better by calling me like that.” I ran a hand through the front of my bangs in frustration. “And it doesn’t help that no one else around seems to care enough to try to help.”

At that comment, Kayla started to bristle. “How about you just at me next time, Zoey?”

“Look, Kayla, I didn’t mean--”

“No, you know what? Forget it. You can walk the rest of the way to your car by yourself, I’m outta here.”

Kayla’s long blonde hair just barely missed whipping me in the face as she turned away from me, starting down the hallway with fast steps that made her heels click sharply against the tile. Again, I started trying to form a tired apology in my stuffed up head, but just as I made the attempt to catch up to her, a tall figure swooped out in front of me from the darkness of one of the nearby classrooms. Startled, I was forced to step back. “Um, excuse m--”

I tried to hurry my way around them, but when I glanced up at their face, I froze. His appearance was striking--something about him seemed almost otherworldly, like he was some kind of elvin prince straight out of a fantasy movie. But that wasn’t the first thing about him to catch my eye. No, that honor went to the vividly blue crescent moon tattoo in the center of his forehead, which extended down his cheekbones with intricately woven lines that imitated Celtic knot work.

That mark could only mean one thing. He was a vampyre tracker.

“ _Zoey Montgomery!_ ” His voice was deep, and each word he spoke seemed to reverberate in the air between us. “ _Night has chosen thee; thy death will be thy birth. Night calls to thee; harken to Her sweet voice. Thy destiny awaits thee at the House of Night!_ ”

He lifted his hand to point at me then, and I cried out as dagger-sharp pain exploded from the center of my own forehead, making me crumple to the floor. I heard a scream from further down the hall, followed by rapid footsteps coming towards me. When the pain died down enough for my vision to clear, I looked up to see Kayla’s tear-stained face staring down at me in horror. The tracker had already vanished.

Strangely enough, I let out a hoarse, weak laugh. “Guess I shouldn’t have wondered whether my week could get any worse, huh?”

“Oh my god, oh my god, Zoey!” Kayla was frantic, her chest heaving with sobs. “He marked you! This can’t be happening!”

She didn’t offer me a hand, so I forced my legs to move, standing back up with a grunt of effort. My headache had upgraded to a full on bodyache, as if I had just run a full marathon without breaks. “Y-you can’t be one of those things!” Kayla pressed on, surprising me with how hysterical she sounded. Shouldn’t I be the one feeling that way right now?

“Hey, Kayla, please don’t cry, it’ll be okay.” I stepped towards her to comfort her, hating to hear her cry so much over me.

As I came closer, however, Kayla stumbled back, her eyes becoming bright with fear. “S-stay away from me!” She gasped, holding her purse in front of her like a shield.

I could tell that the hurt I felt at her reaction showed on my face, because a spark of guilt flashed over hers for just a moment before quickly fading. We had been friends since third grade--she had been there for me when my mom remarried to my awful, judgemental stepfather, and through my complicated relationship with Heath. I already didn’t want to admit how much high school had begun to change things between us, and this just made sure that things would never be the same again.

But I didn’t have time to dwell on any aspect of my lost future right now. I _had_ to get to the House of Night.

Although my chest still burned with the effort not to cough, I staggered past Kayla, who let out another little shriek as my arm brushed hers. Anyone else who was left in the hallway, who obviously had heard the whole exchange, put as much space as they could between me and them as I ran to the double doors at the end of the hall. Thankfully, these ones led straight to the parking lot, meaning I wouldn’t have to waste time on pushing my way through the crowd waiting for the buses. I may not have wanted to become a scary bloodsucking monster, but I also didn’t want to die drowning in my own lungs.

I burst through the doors, kicking up loose asphalt as I ran. To my relief, I had parked my car close by today, but while I frantically dug around my purse for my keys, a familiar voice called out to me. “Hey, Zo!”

Instinctually, my head snapped around towards the sound. _Fuck, fuck, fuck!_ It was Heath, jogging up to meet me.

“Zo, I’m glad I caught ya, I just wanted to...” When he got close enough to see my new mark, he stopped in his tracks, mouth hanging open in shock. “Oh my god, Zo, wait--”

Although it tore at my heart to do it, I cut him off, trying to make this as quick as possible. “Forget about me, Heath. I can’t stay here.” I swallowed back the painful lump in my throat. “Please, just... take care of yourself."

Getting into my car, I slammed the door shut before he could respond, pressing down on the gas and pulling out of Broken Arrow’s parking lot for the last time.


	2. Marked: Chapter Two

As the school quickly became a speck in my rearview mirror, I racked my brain trying to remember whatever I could about the House of Night and vampyres. Y’know, aside from the obvious stuff most humans knew: being marked on the forehead with blue tattoos, sleeping during the day, and… drinking blood.  _ Human _ blood.

I bit my lip, my mind skittering away from the more than uncomfortable thought. Instead, I tried again to recall anything I knew about the House of Night aside from the name. Even though  _ all _ humans had a chance of becoming a fledgling vampire in their teens (something about junk DNA being activated through hormones or… something), it’s not like vampyrism was something that was taught in health class. Or… any class, for that matter.

“Ugh, focus, Zoey!” I said to myself frustratedly. “The House of Night. There’s one in Tulsa. It’s a boarding school. When someone gets marked, they go there to learn everything about how to live as a vampyre. And it’s a boarding school because… if you don’t stay close to the adult vampyres, your body can reject the physical changes of vampyrism.”

_ And then you die. _ My mind whispered gravely.

“Hell no. Not gonna happen.” I muttered back, pulling into the dreadfully familiar driveway of my family’s house. “I just gotta grab my stuff and go. I can do this.”

But no matter what I said to myself, the hesitation was still there. John, who I  _ knew _ would label me as demonspawn for my new mark regardless of the fact that he was my stepfather, would be at the church doing his elder job for at least a few more hours from now. What he actually  _ did _ for the People of Faith, I would never know. My mom, however, was a stay-at-home wife, and there was no doubt I would run into her before being able to leave. Against my better judgement, part of me hoped that I would. As much as our relationship had deteriorated over the years since she remarried, I still felt my stomach twist at the thought of leaving her without saying goodbye.

I crossed the yard to the back of the house, slipping through the door as quietly as I could and without coughing. My nose had started to run at this point as well, forcing me to wipe my face with the back of my arm, grimacing. It almost felt like my condition was getting worse by the hour.  _ I need to hurry _ .

I could hear the mind-numbingly loud sound of my younger brother, Kevin, playing his new military video game upstairs, and I silently thanked him for the cover noise as I rushed up the stairs. Once I got to my room, I shut the door and looked around, trying to gauge what was essential for me to take. Dumping my backpack onto the floor haphazardly, I began pulling clothes from my closet and stuffing them in when I heard the sound of my doorknob rattling. I froze, heart pounding.  _ Idiot! You forgot to lock the door! _

“Zoey? Honey?” Sure enough, the door creaked open and my mother stepped in, sounding concerned. “I heard you come in, but you didn’t answer me, are you…”

She must have caught sight of me filling up my backpack, because her tone quickly changed to something harsher. “Zoey, you know you can’t just go spend the night at one of your friend’s houses without asking us. Put your clothes away and come downstairs.”

My body refused to move. If I turned around to face her, there was no way she’d miss my new mark.  _ But John’s not here. _ I thought to myself, grasping onto whatever hope I had left.  _ If I wanna try reaching out to her, the  _ old _ her, this is the only time I have to do it. _

“Zoey!” She snapped impatiently, breaking my train of thought.

Heart still racing, I swallowed. “M-Mama… Something happened. I don’t know what to do.” I stammered, choosing to be honest. “Please don’t freak out. Please.”

“What do you mean? Zoey,  _ what _ is going on--”

When I stood and turned to face her, her hand flew to her open mouth, muffling her horrified gasp. The complete fear and uncertainty in her eyes made mine well up with tears, unable to hold them back any longer. Was everyone I knew going to disown me now, because of this thing I had no control over?

When she didn’t speak, shaking her head slowly back and forth, I took my chance. “Mama, I’m so scared. You know I didn’t want this to happen.” I clenched my hands into fists, willing them to stop shaking. “But it did, and if I don’t leave and go to the House of Night today, I  _ will _ die. But I don’t think I can do this alone. Please...”

I trailed off as my mom lifted a hand to silence me, closing her eyes. When she finally looked at me again, I thought that I caught a hint of sympathy in her gaze, but I’ll never know what she would have said next as we both heard the sound of the front door closing downstairs.

“Linda? Where are you?”

Oh, no. No no no no  _ no _ . Of all the days for John to come home from work early, why now?!

Mom and I looked frantically at each other as he started up the stairs. To my dismay, she turned away to face him as he came up, giving him the perfect view of me trembling in the middle of my room, mark and all. “Zoey, you better not be giving your mother trouble…” He said before coming to a halt.

I never liked John’s eyes. On the surface, he looked like your typical “dad” kind of guy; he wore button-up shirts, his hairline was receding a bit, and aside from a few poor fashion choices, he didn’t seem like a bad person. Until you looked at him behind closed doors, that is, which I had the misfortune of experiencing for the past three years. He didn’t care about being a dad to me or my two siblings. He never once had a word of encouragement or advice to share with me. And his eyes were always looking down on me, as if he never approved of anything I did.

Now, those eyes darkened threateningly. He pushed past my mother, ignoring her attempted plea to stop him, but I stood my ground, allowing anger to replace my fear. “If this is some kind of joke, Zoey, you’re going to have hell to pay for it.” He said, narrowing his eyes at me.

“Really hate to say it, John, but it’s not.” I retorted, rubbing my thumb across the mark hard to prove it.

He laughed then, but it was a sound devoid of any warmth. “You’ll find any way to rebel against me, won’t you, Zoey?” He shook his head. “Have you so little respect for me or your mother that you would rather embrace the devil like this?”

“I didn’t choose for this to happen!” I cried, reaching the limits of my patience. “Maybe if you tried picking up a book that  _ wasn’t _ the Bible, you’d know that--”

“The word of scientists does not override the word of God!” John shouted back at me, as I fought the urge to flinch away. “I see it now. I’ve allowed you too much freedom, too much space to reject our attempts to teach you and help you better yourself. That’s changing--right now.”

Tugging at my mom’s arm, he forced her to step back out of the room with him. “Whatever you say, we are  _ not _ letting you leave to join that coven of devil-worshippers.” He sneered in disgust. “This, like any other problem, can be solved by begging God for forgiveness and his blessing. Linda, activate the prayer phone tree.”

I heard my mother meekly respond with a “yes, honey” before hurrying down the stairs, and John gave me one last glare before slamming my door shut. Completely drained, I slumped onto my knees on the floor. So that was it, then. John was willing to let me rapidly deteriorate and die here rather than relinquish any of the control he had over my family.

My phone, which I had forgotten and left charging on my bedside table this morning, thankfully still sat untouched. Snatching it immediately, I punched in the number of the one person left I felt like I could trust. As always, she answered on the second ring.

“ _ Zoey, daughter of my spirit. _ ” The warm sense of unconditional love in my grandmother’s voice made my vision blurry with tears all over again. “ _ I had a feeling that you would be calling me today. _ ”

“Grandma, I… I’ve been marked.” I said into the phone as softly as I could. “John knows.”

She was silent only for a moment before turning serious. “ _ Where are you right now, Zoeybird? _ ”

Hearing her call me by my childhood pet name made the vice of anxiety around my heart loosen somewhat. “The house. John says he and my mom aren’t going to let me go to the House of Night, and I’m already getting sicker.”

“ _ Be calm, child. I’m going to come to you as quickly as I can. _ ” She promised, followed by some sounds of rummaging. “ _ Will you be safe during the time it will take me to get there? _ ”

I thought about it, biting my lip. Being of Cherokee descent, my grandmother chose long ago to live away from the suburbs of Tulsa, preferring to run a lavender farm out where she could feel closer to nature. However, unfortunately for me right now, it would take her at least a hour to get from there to the house--maybe more, depending on the traffic. “I know a way I can sneak out, if they’re not paying attention. C-could we meet somewhere along the way, so you could be there when I go to the House of Night?”

“ _Of course, Zoeybird._ ” She said reassuringly. “ _Everything is going to be okay._ ”

As ridiculous as it felt at this point, I still had to ask. “Grandma… you don’t hate me? You don’t think I’m some kinda cursed, bloodsucking monster?”

“ _ Of course I don’t! _ ” She sounded surprised. “ _ I believe that we and vampyres have more in common than most would like to admit. Too often, we allow fear and misunderstanding to paint our views of those different to us as dark and sinister. I only feel shameful knowing that your mother isn’t trying to do more to help you during this time. I must hang up now, sweetheart, I swear I will be with you soon. _ ”

“Okay, Grandma. I love you.”

After chucking my phone into my purse, I dried my eyes. Quickly, I gathered together as many things as I could fit into my backpack (including my childhood stuffed fish plushie, knowing I wouldn’t be able to sleep without him, as silly as it was), regretting that I wouldn’t be able to take much more than I had already packed.

What else of my old life would I have to leave behind?

_ What are you really missing, though? _ When the thought entered my brain, I found myself at a loss. My family life was utter garbage at this point, with how much my mom left me to fend for myself while John made me feel like a waste of space. Hell, I didn’t even have a clue where my bio-dad was anymore (not like he ever called either). High school had been forcing a wedge between me and my friends for the past year and a half. Heath, who I had grown up with, was barely recognizable as the boy I once knew past he and his buddies’ copious alcohol abuse.  _ At this point, did you really have anything else to lose? _

It felt like a taunt, but it was the sad truth. Maybe… this was a second chance. Maybe once I finally got used to the idea of being a vampyre, I would be able to focus on making new connections.

Maybe I finally,  _ finally _ wouldn’t have to be alone anymore.

I let that thought give me strength as I unlatched my window, steeling myself for whatever was to come next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyone else remember that really edgy and dramatic rant zoey goes on to her mom when she comes home bc i reread it before writing this chapter and it really is something (it's almost so bad it's good. almost)
> 
> i know this is a point of contention between people who try to rewrite HoN, but yes, i am keeping zoey's (and her grandma's) cherokee background. i completely understand why people make the decision to change this, i too do not claim to be cherokee or of any native american descent (as far as i know), but i also feel wrong changing it myself because of how few stories there are out there with native american protagonists. i hope this doesn't come across in a badly to anyone, but if so, please feel free to tell me and correct me if i mess up.
> 
> because i lack the proper knowledge to fix the accuracy of the original cherokee stories, im going to be keeping later plot about kalona and everything surrounding him relatively similar to what was in the books, while removing as much as i can of the very offensive and triggering parts his backstory contains. hopefully i don't have to say exactly what i mean by that as i would rather avoid saying the word for the sake of people reading this who could be triggered by it.
> 
> next time on dragon ball zoey: official house of night intro, and meeting the wacky cast of characters we all know and will hopefully come to love

**Author's Note:**

> i know that other attempts to rewrite the first book hate the way the relationship between zoey and kayla is written, but i don't think it's unrealistic to have them drifting apart from each other. i just wanted to make it so it didn't seem so one-sidedly mean on zoey's end.
> 
> also, as silly as it is, i wanted to give some kind of context as to why zoey would be having a rough week? in the first chapter, she frequently makes comments about how she can't imagine her day getting any worse, but why was it so bad in the first place? was she really so hung up on that geometry test????


End file.
